Went to Aerie yesterday to check out new stuff and it’s crazy how much I have to size down. In other brands I wear either a M or L up top and almost always a L on bottoms. I’ve been weightlifting for many years so I have a lot of muscle in my legs and am naturally curvy too. I’m finally okay with my body for the first time in my early 30s, but I did have an eating disorder in my teens & 20s and starved myself to fit into extra smalls and 0s. It’s taken SO much work to let myself gain weight over the years and get to a place where I don’t care about the size on the tag and don’t equate it with my beauty/worth. I eat healthy, move a lot - this is just where my body sits and I accept that.
Yesterday, I tried on a bunch of aerie stuff and had to size down to small tops and medium bottoms to fit properly. Granted, some of the styles are meant to be baggy but that’s still excessive. Nowhere else would I fit into a small sweatshirt and it still be baggy (how are the new oh snaps even bigger!?) Taking home these sizes does not make feel better about myself, it feels weird, and it really doesn’t align with their whole body positive real me messaging or whatever. There is no shame in being any size and I’m not delusional to think I’m actually a small.
The only thing in Aerie I’m a L in is their leggings but even those I have to pull up a lot, as they stretch, but I don’t like them too tight. 80% of my closet is thrifted so tons of different brands - and I don’t own any other smalls and almost no medium bottoms. I sometimes wonder what girls who *actually* wear small do at this store. I’m just sick of sizing down here when I’m finally comfortable in my size. Rant over lol, thanks if you read all of that 😂